Monday, November 30, 2009

Dollar Store Maybelline Express Swatches

Happy Monday! Are we all ready to start another week? :c)

I heard lots about great nail polish finds at dollar stores recently. Specifically at Dollar Trees. So I went hunting! I hit 5 Dollar Trees around me (only 4 had any nail polish though) and I want to show you what I found. I am going to break this into two groups: The Abundant and The Rare.

First up is the abundant colors. These all had multiple bottles in one or more stores:

Matte Gold - This is a deep, burnt orange type of gold. It's finish is matte, but it is shimmery and has a little bit of small glitter in it too. This is two coats. This one, I didn't discover until I was home and I opened it, was completely dried out. It was absolutely unusable. But a whole lotta' nail polish reviver fixed it right up!

Matte Blue - This is a slate-ish blue that finishes matte, but is shimmery and almost like a metallic. It is a bit brush stroke-y. This is 2 coats.

Emerald Water - This is a sheer blue. This swatch is 4 coats. I thought it would be a dark blue, awesome jelly but I was wrong. It is a very sheer blue. The name is bizarre for two reasons: 1) It is not emerald at all. It is blue. Emerald is green. 2) It is seriously like water. The consistency is very thin. I left the cap off for at least a whole day, and all I did was mange to evaporate some of the polish, but it was still watery. I am convinced that no matter how long I left it off for it would be that consistency. There was also a Lemon Water. So think of a polish like this, but yellow. Why the hell would I want to paint my nails with a watery, sheer yellow? So that I can achieve that highly sought, stained nails look?!?

Khaki Fringe - Ah. The star of my Abundants. This is an antique gold, olive shimmer. It is similar to OPI - At Your Quebec & Call, but this is a bit lighter. This swatch is 2 coats.

Blackened Teal - Just like the name says! This is a blackened, teal shimmer. This is two coats.

Now onto the Rares. These are all polishes that I only found one bottle of between all of the Dollar Trees that I visited.

Gold Aluminum - This is a shimmery, foil finish gold that is a really flattering, neutral shade of gold. I really love this one. This was my Thanksgiving manicure. This is 2 coats.

Shooting Stars - This is a dense, but fine, silver holographic glitter mixed with blue bar glitter. This swatch was 4 coats, but it looked just the same with 3 coats.

Hip Huggers - This is a dark, dusty lilac creme. Perfection! This is 2 coats.

Two Timer - I thought this would be a lot cooler. This is a seafoam green with a bright blue flash. I like the concept of it, but it is very sheer. This is 4 coats. I think it would make a good layering polish. It would probably look great over black.

Twinkle Twinkle - This was one that I had set my sights for when I went on my hunt. This is a dark denim color blue with sliver glitter. Similar to Essie - Starry Starry Night. This is 2 coats.

Matte Sapphire - This is essentially Twinkle Twinkle but matte. This is 2 coats.

There were lots of other colors that I didn't get, or didn't get for myself like Brown Aluminum, Matte Red, Matte Gray, and lots of burgundy and plum colors, so there is a good variety out there. The only thing I should say though is that even though they come packaged up so they can't be used, the volume of some is lower than full, probably due to evaporation, so you may need a polish reviver/thinner to enjoy them fully. So get your hunt on! They are only $1!

I also saw a quick dry top coat at a couple of the Dollar Trees, and in light of The Edge of Sanity's top coat testing, I thought "I shouldn't pass it up just because it's cheap. Maybe it'll be better than my Seche Vite!" Well, I was wrong. Although the consistency was incredible, it never dried fully. Even an hour later it was still tacky. So if you see this, don't waste your time. It blows.

i searched 4 dollar trees in my area and finally found one that had maybellines, the others only had sally hansens (all of which were nasty). there must have been a "Denim" collection or something a while back because i got Jean Jacket, Jaded Blues, Blue Riders and i know i saw Hip Huggers there too. i also got Matte Olive and Rose Rocks (a shimmery pink). i wish i had found some aluminums though, yours look awesome! i also bought the same topcoat, hoping (because of the EofS blog) to find a rare gem. sadly like you said it blows :)

Fourth comment on that same cheap DT topcoat. Had to use a REAL quick-dry topcoat over it (Seche Vite) to get it to DRY. Straight to the circular file it went...

Scored some of these Maybellines as well, although it took a lot of looking. I've got over a dozen Dollar Trees in driving distance, and only 3 had any of these! I picked up some of the "Water" ones to swap on MUA, as people use them for gradient mani's.Blackened Teal & Hip Hugger were my 2 favorites, as well ;)--ggs

I bought 2 of the quick dry top coats and they work really well on my nails. Im surprised people have a problem with it. I have thick nails and when put on, it creates a luminous shine and dries within seconds. I actually went back and got MORE! :D

About Me

HI! I'm Elaine and I am the sole contributor to this blog. I have been obsessed with doing manicures since age 10. I love interesting/unique nail polish. On my blog you will find swatches of polish collections new and old, reviews, tutorials, nails of the day, nail art, comparisons and original shades by me.
Any questions or nail product review requests can be emailed to me at lacquerlaine@gmail.com
:c)

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